Hanukia

This is a poor quality blip - not enough light - but I've chosen it for its curiosity value. Bournemouth has a large Jewish community and this evening was the start of their Festival of Lights. I went along to see the Menorah lit, and found it a strange occasion. A small group of soberly-dressed Jews watched a cherry-picker lift a rabbi in the air to light two of the candles. There was a brief blessing in, maybe the Hebrew language, but God didn't seem to have much of a look-in otherwise. The occasion didn't seem to be much fun either. My attention was drawn to the unnoticed figure of a beggar who sat on the outside of the group, presumably looking for gifts.

The Festival of Lights commemorates the time when the Jews were ruled by a Syrian king who tried to make them worship Greek gods. Jerusalem was eventually re-captured by the Jews, but the temple was nearly destroyed. it was cleansed and restored and the Menorah (lamp ) re-lit, using a miraculously-preserved jar of oil. The lamp stayed alight for eight days.